AIBU to ask for the repayment of this loan?

My niece decided a couple of years ago to retrain in a new profession – she is 38 and married with one child – and was going to take out a hefty commercial loan to pay for living expenses and tuition fees etc. I offered to loan her the money instead on a no interest basis, so that she wasn’t tied up in interest repayments as well as the repayment of the loan itself. I have no children of my own and can afford it and it was in fact my original intention to gift her the money, on the basis that she would inherit from me at some stage anyway. She expressed suitable gratitude at the time.

At Christmas we all gathered at her mother’s, my sister’s. I hadn’t seen her since last year and was looking forward to seeing her. However, from the look on her face when I greeted her, it was clear that my sentiments were not reciprocated. At one stage, she and I found ourselves alone in sitting room. I asked her a few questions about how the course was going and how she was etc.etc. perfectly normal conversation. She gave absolutely minimal answers and didn’t ask me anything about myself at all. At one point, unable to suppress the ennui she felt in my company, she sighed audibly. She later posted on FB a picture of a woman looking fresh and alert with the caption: ‘arriving for Christmas’. Next to it was a picture of the same woman, looking haggard and clutching the steering wheel of her car with the caption: ‘Three days later – I need a drink!’ I think it sums up her feelings about being around her mother, stepfather and myself. Obviously she can post whatever she likes on her own FB page but she knew that I would see it.

The course is ending later in the year and I believe she is fairly confident of securing employment in her chosen field (despite it requiring a degree of physical agility and her being seriously obese). As I say, it was my original intention to write off the debt, but as she has made her feelings towards me so abundantly clear, I am now disinclined to do so. I am also considering changing my will. There are plenty of charities that i support that would be grateful for my money and I would rather see them benefit than this entitled young woman. What would you do in my position? Am I over-reacting? All opinions welcome!

Firstly, you are committing a crime if you are lending money without appropriste regulatory authorisations, so you have very few rights here, especially if you originally indicated it was a gift and never agreed how it would be repaid. So you are probably not entitled to the money back.

Secondly you have pretty flimsy evidence on which to be offended and you seem to me to be jumping to some pretty big conclusions about how her behaviour is all about you. you shouldn't be holding this over her head as a way to get the appropriate level of deference and crawling that you feel entitled to.

Did anything happen between you in the time between lending her the money and Christmas? Seems strange if you were presumably quite friendly before that- as you say you were looking forward to seeing her.

I thought you were going to say she had dropped out of the course, so she felt awkward about that.

If you didn't say you didn't want the money back then YADNBU to ask for it back - as far as she's concerned nothing will have changed.

And hopping don't be such a dick, OP didn't say she wanted her arse kissed, just some common courtesy which surely any relative (bar complete narcs) should expect, particularly one who's been so incredibly generous.

Maybe her subdued attitude was not to do with you? Is it possible she had other things on her mind? Why not (as pp suggested) pick up the phone and have a chat.of course YWNBU to ask for repayment of the loan (under the terms previously agreed), but it seems a bit extreme to change your will because you had a few awkward moments at Christmas.

A 38 year old parent who is unable to be polite to her aunt who has done her a massive favour out of the goodness of her heart? She can’t even summon up the basic manners to make small talk? She sounds very unpleasant.

This is a mature woman, not some gauche teen. I’d just leave her be, wait until she has finished the course and then contact her asking when she will begin repayments. Be prepared not to see a penny of it though.

And change your will, if that is what you want to do. It’s your money to do with as you please, and you have seen first-hand exactly how much your niece appreciates your family spirit.

Shes not a child anymore and shouldn’t behave like one. I think you should speak to her about how upset her behaviour made you feel. There may have been something else going on in her life, she may be struggling with the course (particularly physical aspects).

How was her husband behaving? How was she reacting with her child? It sounds like you love her and are a kind and generous person so you could probably find it in yourself to reach out a bit further and tell her you are worried about her behaviour.